Power elevated cabinet



Sept- 1958 A. D. LOND/EREE ETAL ,307

POWER ELEVATED CABINET Filed Nov. 26, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ARCH/BA LD 0. LONDEREE a moms K. BRIDGES,

IN VEN TORS.

ATTORNEY.

P 1958 A. D. LONDEREE ET AL 2,854,307

POWER ELEVATED CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 26, 1954 ARCH/BALD D. L ONDEREE 8 THOMAS K. BRIDGES,

INVENTORS. B M

A TTORNE Y.

2,854,307 Patented Sept. 30, 1958 POWER ELEVATED CABINET Application November 26, 1954, Serial No. 471,333

Claims. (Cl. 312-247) This invention relates to power-actuated vertically movable cabinets, and, by way of example, will be described herein as embodied in a kitchen cabinet.

For full utilization of the available space in a kitchen, it is desirable to have a kitchen cabinet that may be positioned at a relatively low level for access when desired and that may be raised by applied power to a normal elevated storage position out of the way. Such an arrangement affords maximum convenience in access to the interior of the cabinet and thus makes it possible to take full advantage of all of the storage space available in the cabinet. The arrangement also provides a normally clear work space below the elevated portion of the cabinet.

A certain difliculty arises, however, in that the provision of means to power and guide the cabinet for vertical movement tends to defeat the general objective, both by taking up space inside the cabinet and by curtailing the work space below the cabinet that would otherwise be fully available. Another difficulty is that the structure and configuration of means to power and guide such a cabinet is not in keeping with the style asthetic affect that is sought in modern kitchens. A further objection is that any power and guide means that may be used has surfaces to be kept clean and usually some of these surfaces are not easily accessible for cleaning operations.

The present invention afiords a completely satisfactory solution to these various problems by providing power and guide means completely housed inside the kitchen wall. In the preferred practice of the invention, the means to power and guide the cabinet is not only completely out of the way but is also fully concealed inside the wall, the kitchen cabinet being mounted thereon by connecting means extending through vertical slots in the surface layer of the wall.

In the new arrangement, the means to power and guide the cabinet does not reduce the capacity of the cabinet and, moreover, does not occupy any of the work space below the normal elevated position of the cabinet. When the cabinet is in its raised position, only the vertical slots in the wall are visible and such vertical slots harmonize with modern kitchen styles. In this regard a feature of the preferred practice of the invention is that the cabinet may be readily dismounted from the connecting means that extent through the wall slots. This feature permits a new cabinet of different size or style to be substituted quickly and easily whenever desired.

Suitable means is provided to anchor the power and guide means to the studding inside the kitchen wall and the preferred practice of the invention is characterized by the concept of providing a complete unified assembly that may be inserted between two wall studs and quickly and conveniently attached to the two studs. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this concept of a packaged wall unit may be embodied in various constructions in various practices of the invention.

In the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the wall unit comprises a rectangular metal frame dimensioned to occupy the full width of the space between two studs in the kitchen wall. Both vertical alignment of the unit and correct spacing inward of the unit from the front surface of the kitchen wall are assured by providing the rectangular frame with suitable means to engage the two studs. Such means, for example, may comprise simple angular brackets to hook around the front surfaces of the two adjacent studs.

The rectangular frame carries suitable power means that is preferably in the form of a centrally positioned vertical hydraulic cylinder having a piston with a piston rod extending therefrom. The rectangular frame also provides at least one vertical guide means and for this purpose preferably provides two vertical guide rods positioned, respectively, on opposite sides of the hydraulic cylinder. Where the wall, includes a surface layer, which is usually a plaster layer, the same is slotted to clear a bracket for the cabinet that is carried by the piston rod and is additionally slotted to clear additional brackets for the cabinet that slidingly engages the two guide rods. Preferably four guide brackets are attached to the back of the cabinet near it four corners for effective stabilization of the cabinet.

The various features and advantages of the invention will be understood from the following detailed description considered with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet mounted on a kitchen wall in accord with a preferred practice of the invention, a portion of the wall being broken away to reveal concealed structure;

Figure 2 is a cross section of a control valve that may be used for moving the kitchen cabinet up and down by remote control;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the wall unit with portions of the guide brackets broken away;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the wall unit with the kitchen cabinet mounted thereon, the kitchen cabinet being shown in section and portions of the unit being broken away;

Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the bracket that supports the kitchen cabinet on the concealed piston rod of the power means; and

Figure 6 is a similar perspective view of one of the guide brackets in sliding engagement with a vertical guide rod.

Figure 1 shows how a cabinet C may be movably mounted on a kitchen wall W by the presently preferred embodiment of the invention. The cabinet C comprises two shelves 10 and 11 enclosed by two side walls 12, a back wall 14 and a top wall 15. The front of the cabinet is provided with a pair of doors 16. The cabinet C as shown in its normal elevated storage position to provide an unimpeded lower work space represented by a twocompartment sink 13 together with the surrounding top surface 20 of a floor cabinet 22.

The wall W is of conventional construction and incorporates spaced vertical studs 24 covered by a plaster surface layer 25. In this preferred practice of the invention, the plaster layer 25 is formed with a central vertical slot 26 and two vertical slots 28 spaced on opposite sides thereof.

As heretofore stated, the structure that is incorporated in the wall W for actuating and guiding the cabinet C in its vertical movements is embodied in a single unit. In the preferred practice of the invention, this unit comprises an appropriately equipped rectangular frame. The rectangular frame, which is generally designated F, may comprise two vertical side members 32 in the form of flat metal bars and transverse top and bottom members 34 and 35, respectively, that are made of angle iron, these four members being welded together to form a solid unified frame structure. This rectangular frame F is of a width to occupy fully the space between two studs 24. In this instance the rectangular frame is of less thickness than the wall studs 24 and is intended to be spaced rearward from the front surface of the wall W. Such spacing is desirable to make the power and guiding structure inside the wall less visible through the various slots 26 and 28.

The rectangular frame F may be anchored to the wall studs 24 in any suitable manner. For this purpose the two side members 32 of the rectangular frame may be provided with small apertures (not shown) to receive nails or screws for directly anchoring the side members to the corresponding wall studs 24. Preferably the rectangular frame F is also provided with forwardly extending angular clips 36, there being one such clip on one of the side members 32 of the frame near each of the four frame corners. Each of the angular clips 36 has a forward bent end 38 which hooks around the corresponding wall stud 24 in abutment with the forward surface thereof. Thus when the rectangular frame F is positioned between the two wall studs 24 with the angular clips 36 engaging the forward surfaces of the wall studs, the rectangular frame will be vertical and will be positioned rearward from the front surfaces of the wall studs by a desired predetermined distance.

Centrally mounted on the bottom member of the rectangular frame is a suitable power means which in this instance comprises a hydraulic cylinder 40 having a piston 42 therein'(Figure 3) with a piston rod 44 extending upward from the piston. As shown in Figure 4, the upper end of the piston rod 44 is formed with an enlargement 45 for engagement with a bracket 46 to support the cabinet C. The supporting bracket 46 is apertured to receive the upper end of the piston rod 44 and the piston rod is threaded at its end to receive a pair of nuts 48 for fixedly connecting the supporting bracket with the piston rod.

As best shown in Figure 5, the supporting bracket 46 for the cabinet C may be a metal casting having a vertical base portion 50 and a rearwardly extending horizontal wing 52 braced by a triangular web 54. The base portion 50 may be formed with suitable apertures 55 to receive bolts 56 (Figure 4) for attachment to the back wall 14 of the cabinet. The rearwardly extending wing 52 of the bracket is preferably narrowed to form a neck 58 to extend through the previously mentioned central vertical wall slot 28.

The rectangular frame F is spanned lengthwise by a pair of vertical guide rods 60, each of which is near one of the side members 32 of the frame. Each of the two ends of each of the vertical guide rods 60 may be cut away to form a reduced end portion 62 (Figure 6) and an adjacent circumferential shoulder 64. Each of the end portions 62 extends through a corresponding bore 65 in the end of the rectangular frame F and may be secured by a suitable nut 65'. Preferably each of the two vertical guide rods 60 is suitably braced at approximately its mid point. For this purpose a small plate 66 may be apertured to embrace each of the vertical guide rods 60 and this plate may be welded to the corresponding side member 32 of the rectangular frame as shown.

A pair of suitable guide brackets 70 is mounted on each of the vertical guide rods 60 on opposite sides of the intermediate reinforcement plate 66. As best shown in Figure 6, each of the guide brackets 70 may be in the form of a casting having a vertical base portion 72 and a pair of wings 74 and a reinforcing web 75. The two wings 74 are cut away to form necks 76 to extend through a vertical wall slot 28. The two wings 74 of the guide bracket 70 are apertured to slidingly receive the corresponding guide rod 60 and preferably are interconnected by a guide sleeve 78 integral therewith. The base portion 72 of each of the guide brackets 70 is pro- 4 vided with suitable apertures 80 to permit the guide bracket to be attached to the back wall 14 of the cabinet C by suitable bolts 82, as shown in Figure 4.

The hydraulic cylinder 40 is placed in communication with a suitable source of hydraulic fluid by means of a pipe or tube 84. In the preferred practice of the invention the pipe 84 is connected to a 3-way valve 85, as indicated in Figure 2. A pipe 86 from the water supply system in the kitchen is connected to the 3-way valve and this pipe may be provided with an orifice member 88 if desired. The orifice member 88 functions to retard the flow of the supply water and thereby causes a cabinet C to move upward at a desirable moderate rate. A suitable drain pipe 90 is also connected to the 3- way valve, and this drain pipe may also be provided with an orifice member 92 to retard the rate of water flow out of the hydraulic cylinder thereby to retard the rate of descent of cabinet C.

The 3-way valve 85 has a valve member 94 with an arcuate 90 passage 95 therethrough. In Figure 2 the valve member 94 is positioned to place the valve passage 95 in communication both with the water supply pipe 86 and the pipe 84 leading to the hydraulic cylinder 40. It is apparent that in this position of the 3-way valve, water under pressure from the water system will be supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 40 to raise the cabinet C. At the alternate position of the valve member 94, the arcuate valve passage 95 places the pipe 84 in communication with a drain pipe 90 as indicated by broken lines in Figure 2, and thereby permits water to drain out of the hydraulic cylinder 40 for lowering of the cabinet C.

The 3-way valve 85 may be positioned and may be controlled in any suitable manner. In this instance the valve is placed in the wall W and is provided with a valve handle 96 on the front surface of the wall as shown in Figure 1. It is apparent that the valve handle 96 may be moved through a range of 90 to cause the cabinet to move either up or down as desired.

The manner in which the described invention serves its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. Usually the installation of the cabinet C will be planned when the kitchen is built and the rectangular frame will be anchored to the studding in the wall before the wall is plastered. It is a simple matter to back the rectangular frame into position between the two studs 24 until the bent ends 38 of the angular clips 36 make contact with the front surfaces of the studs. The rectangular frame may then be anchored in place by nails or screws extending through suitable apertures in the two side members 32 of the frame. The bracket 46 for supporting and moving the cabinet will be already mounted on the piston rod 44 and the four guide brackets 70 will already be slidingly mounted on the two vertical guide rods 60. The 3-way valve 85 will be installed in the wall and will be connected to the three pipes 84, 86 and 90 as heretofore described.

When the surface layer of plaster 25 is applied to the wall studding the central vertical slot 26 and the pair of vertical slots 28 will be formed in the plaster with the corresponding brackets 46 and 70 extending through the slots.

After the wall is finished, the valve handle 96 will be added for manual control of the 3-way valve 85 and the cabinet will be bolted to the brackets. Thus the support bracket 46 will be bolted to the back wall 14 of the cabinet at an upper central position and the four guide brackets 70 will be bolted to the back wall of the cabinet near the four corners of the cabinet. The cabinet is then ready for operation and may be raised and lowered at will simply by turning the valve handle 96 between its two alternate positions.

Occasionally lubrication may be desirable and the vertical slots 26 and 28 provide suflicient accessibility for lubricating the moving parts of the structure. The hydraulic cylinder 40 may be provided with a removable bottom end to permit access to the interior of the cylinder from the space inside to floor cabinet 22.

The cabinet of the present invention, although here shown as mounted to a plastered wall, is not limited to use with such a wall construction. The cabinet could, for example, be mounted to adjacent pairs of studdings where no surface layer such as a plaster layer is used in the wall construction. In such an installation, a wall member could be disposed in front of the cabinet and given any exposed surface desired. The present invention, in the broadest aspects thereof, comprises therefore a cabinet member movably mounted to a wall having at least a pair of vertically disposed studdings by means including a frame element for anchorage betwen the pair of wall studdings, which frame element supports not only the power cycle and piston but the vertically arranged guide elements for guiding movement of the cabinet as the same is moved through actuation of the power cylinder and piston.

Although the now preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto, for it is susceptible to changes in form and detail within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a kitchen structure, the combination of: a kitchen wall having a vertically extending space in the interior thereof and having a plurality of vertical slots in the region of said space; a kitchen cabinet positioned adjacent the surface of said wall at the slotted portion thereof; a hydraulic prime mover concealed in said space and connected to a pressurized water supply to derive power therefrom; vertical guide means concealed in said space; means concealed in said space for anchorage to the wall to support both said prime mover and said guide means; valve means to control said prime mover; and narrow means connecting said cabinet with said prime mover and with said guide means through said slots to support the cabinet for vertical movement along the face of said wall.

2. An assembly for mounting a kitchen cabinet member to be movable vertically along the surface of a wall having therewithin two spaced vertical studs providing inwardly facing parallel support surfaces, said assembly comprising, a frame having vertical members extending along the opposite sides thereof and providing outer 6 lateral faces on the frame spaced a distance substantially equal to the spacing betwen the inwardly facing support surfaces, attachment means on said frame for securing said frame to the two studs with said frame within the wall and said outer lateral faces engaging the support surfaces respectively, vertical guide means carried by said frame, bracket means slidably engaging said guide means to be movable vertically therealong, said bracket means having a cabinet supporting surface thereon disposed forwardly of the plane of said frame to lie in a plane parallel to and in front of the forward edges of the two studs, mounting means on said supporting surface for securing a cabinet member thereto, an elongatable hydraulic power means carried by said frame including a cylinder element and a piston element, one of said elements being connected to said frame, means on the other of said elements for connecting said other element to the rear wall of the cabinet member, and means on said power means for connecting same to a pressurized water supply to derive power therefrom.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which said attachment means includes angular clips.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which said guide means comprises two vertical rods positioned on opposite sides of said power means and in which said bracket means includes two pairs of vertically spaced guide brackets attached to the cabinet, each pair of guide brackets slidingly engaging one of said guide rods.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 in which said power means includes a piston rod united with said piston element and in which said means for connecting said other element to the rear wall of the cabinet includes a fifth bracket attached to said piston rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 786,641 Grossman Apr. 4, 1905 1,287,699 Kinsman Dec. 17, 1918 2,382,354 Wales Aug. 14, 1945 2,415,655 Reinert Feb. 11, 1947 2,429,523 Murphy Oct. 21, 1947 2,634,188 Davis Apr. 7, 1953 2,732,087 Pratt Jan. 24, 1956 

